Car-coupling



(No Model.) zsheets-sheet 1.

W. 0. WATSON & J. N. MILEHAM.

GAR GOUPLING.

No@ 441,267. Patented Nov. 25, 1890.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

W. C. WATSON & J. N. MILEHAM.

GAR. 'GOUPL1NG- l No. 441,267. Patented Nov. 25, 1890.

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. da L L .0g I Z 3l Jell d y IWW/Z765 M @7307i M sz@ JMJ UNITED STATES'PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM C. VATSON, OF PATERSON, AND JOSEPH N. MILEHAM, OF RUTHERFORD,NEW JERSEY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 441,267, dated November25, 18901 Application filed August 15, 1890. Serial No. 362,072. (Nomodel.)

.To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that we, WILLIAM C. WATSON, of Paterson, in the county ofPassaic and State of New Jersey, and JOSEPH N. MILE- HAM, of Rutherford,in the county of Bergen, in said State, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Car-Couplings, of which-the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to what are known as rotary or knuckle couplings.

The obj ect of the improvement is twofoldviz., rst, to afford greaterflexibility, and thereby reduce the liability to breakage in turningcurves, and, second, to provide in a simple and eEective manner for theoperation of such a coupling from the side, roof, or platform of thecar, avoiding the necessity of a man having to go between the cars,which is always more or less a dangerous operation.

XVe will first describe our invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, and then point out its novel features in claims.

Figure 1 represents a horizontal section of a coupling embodying ourimprovement with a portion of a second coupling in operative positiontherewith, the section being taken on the line a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 2represents a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a view infront elevation. Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views of portions of twocouplings in diiferent positions.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thegures.

A represents a buffer-head arranged on the under side of the car-body Sand adapted to be moved lengthwise, but held against lat-eraldisplacement and guided in its longitudinal movement by guides a,secured to the carbody, and further retained in position by plates a a2,here shown as bolted to the guides c. This buffer-head consists ofahollow shell, but is otherwise of ordinary construction, and isprovided on its under side with a projection a3, which by its contactwith the said plate a limits the longitudinal movement of thebuffer-head.

B designates a draw-head, having pivoted to its outer end acoupling-hook c of the kind commonly known as rotary or knucklecoupling-hook, consisting of an elbow pivoted at its bend, and one arm67 of which constitutes the engaging-hook, and the other arm bs servesto engage with the locking device to keep the coupling in engagement.The draw-head B consists of a bar, here shown as of skeletonconstruction, and is partly contained in the buer-head A. Near its rearend it is connected by means of a pin b to the draw bar or rod b, whichpasses through the rear of the buffer-head. The said pin b projectsthrough longitudinal slots 0,4, formed in the top and bottom of thebuffer-head, the said slots permitting a longitudinal movement of thedraw-headB and bar or rod b relatively to the buffer-head. The said pinb is represented as removable from the bottom for taking out thedraw-head B and as kept in place by means of the guide-plate a2.

The draw bar or rod b passes through a lug b2, formed upon a plate b3,secured to the bottom of the car. The buffer-spring b4 surrounds thesaid bar or rod between the rear end of the buffer-head and the lug b2,the said lug serving as an abutment for said spring. This spring tendsto press the buffer-head forward, so that in the normal condition of theparts the front of the buffer is against a shoulder i on the draw-head.

The portion of the'draw bar or rod b which projects rearward through ctbeyond the lug b2 is screw-threaded and receives a nut bl". Surroundingthe said rearwardly-projecting portion is a coil-spring b5, one end ofwhich abuts against the lug b2, and the other end against the nut 6"'.This permits to the coupling-bar alongitudinal movement of the drawheadB relatively to the buffer-head when traction is applied to it.

The coupling-hook or knuckle B' is substantially like that of theknuckle-coupling in common use, but may be here briefly described. It ispivoted to the draw-head B by means of a pin b9, and is provided with ahook portion 117 and an angularly-extending arm bs, the end of which armis rounded, as here shown at- Z110.

D is a rock-shaft arranged transversely under the car in bearings inhangers d, dependent from the car. This shaft carries a locking arm orstop d', which passes through a slot d2 in the bottom of the shell ofthe buffer-head, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for the IOO purpose ofacting against the inner face B of the arm bs in such manner as to lockthe one direction, and Fig. 5 the relative positions v on a curve in theother direction. When the cars are running free on a straight track, theonly contact between the couplings is between the hooks 57 of theknuckles B B; but in turning a curve the front of one or other of thebuer-heads, according to the direction of the curve, is brought intocontact with the end of the other draw-head, as shown at j in Figs. 4and 5, and that drawhead is held back with its shoulder t' in contactwith its own buEer-head, as shown at the bottom of Fig. 4 and top ofFig. 5, while the said draw-head pushes back the other buffer-headrelatively to its draw-head to 'an Vextent permitted by the slot a4 inthe shell of the buffer-head and by the spring b4, and the strainbetween the knuckles being then taken up by the said spring theliability to break the knuckles, which is one of the great objections tothe knuckle-coupling, as ordinarily applied, is obviated.

It has been hereinbefore mentioned how the coupling-hook or knuckle B islocked in its operative position by means of the stop d. To uncouple,the transverse shaftD is turned in a direction for the stop d to moveback clear of the arm 198. The hook B is then free to rotate. To providefor turning the shaft for locking and unlocking the hook, it hasprovided at its opposite ends levers d3, here shown as three-arm levers,by which it may conveniently be turned from the outside of the car.Fastened on said shaft on one side of the coupling is an arm d, whichforms in effect a crank, and which engages a slotted yoke d5 on one endof an upright pull-rod D. Said pull-rod is tted to slide in guides d,attached to the front of the car or car-platform, and is provided at itsupper end with a handle di'. lf preferred, therefore, to uncouple thecar from the platform or roof, the pull-rod D may be grasped at thehandle d? and pulled upwardly, rotating the crank d4 andw'ith it thetransverse shaft D andstop d.

This coupling constructed as described is 6o automatic or self-closing,as by the action of two cars coming together with one or both of thecouplings in unlocked adjustment the pressure which would be broughtagainst the inner face h of the arm bs of the couplinghook, which isthen presented crosswise of the car, would force the before-mentionedportion Z910 against the rounded edge d8 of the stop d', pressing itbackward and rocking the shaft D until the said arm should pass it.

The said stop would then, by the weight of the pull-rod D acting throughthe crank d4 on the rock-shaft D, be caused to fall back to its normalposition to lock the coupling. It is therefore never necessary fora manto go between the cars either to couple or'to uncouple them, as this mayconveniently be done either from the car roof (or platform) or fromeither side of the car.

We have shown a hole e and a cut-away portion e in the coupling-hook Bto provide for coupling a car which has our improved coupling attachedthereto to another car which is only provided with an ordinarylinkand-pin connecting device. Y

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

l. The combination ofa hollow buifer-head, a draw-head separate from butfitted within the buffer-head, a rotary coupling-hook consisting of anelbow pivoted to said draw-head, and a locking device for saidcoupling-hook, substantially as herein described.

2. rlhe combination of the hollow bufferhead A, having'longitudinalslots a4, the drawhead B and draw-bar b and their connectingpin bWorking in said longitudinal slots, the rotary coupling-hook B', pivotedto said drawhead, the springs b4 b5, applied, respectively, to thebuffer-head and draw-bar, and the abutment b2 for said springs, allsubstantially as herein set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of acoupling-bar having a pivotal connection therewith, a rotarycouplinghook pivoted to said coupling-bar, a retaining-lock bearingagainst an arm of said hook, and a transverse shaft to which said lockis secured, substantially as specified.

NVILLIAM C. WATSON. JOSEPH N. MILEHAM. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNEs, K. F.. PEMBLETON.

IOO

